India has the third largest share of the global online sports betting market with roughly 4% of the total market. This statistic shows that although sports betting is not regulated in the country, it hasn’t stopped Indian residents from looking to offshore betting sites to bet on popular sports such as cricket or football.
With a population of over 1.4 billion and growing it’s expected that India will become an even more significant player in the global sports betting industry over the next several years.
On this page I will touch on the basic legal question surrounding sports betting in India, recommend the #1 rated betting site for Indian residents, and finish up by looking at the different betting options and laws in specific cities in India.
Is Sports Betting Legal in India
To best answer this question I should break it down into two parts.
#1. Operating as a Bookmaker
It is not legal to run a bookmaking operation or sportsbook in India. The Public Gambling Act of 1867 is still the main law against gambling in the country, but it is generally only applied against the bookies, not the players placing bets.
#2. Placing Bets Online
Continuing with the above, Indian residents are able to place bets with sportsbooks that are regulated and licensed outside of India. It is estimated that about 40% of Indian internet users use online gambling sites and there haven’t been any documented cases of penalties for this.
Best Betting Site for Indians
Bet365.com is by far the most popular betting site in India. It is estimated that 93.5% of sports bettors in India use Bet365 to place their bets.
Bet365 is the most popular betting site worldwide, and they are one of the few sites that cater to Indian players by allowing betting with Indian Rupee (INR), so it makes sense they are the primary online sportsbook in India.
Bet365 also offers a huge selection of bets for the Indian Premier League cricket and Indian football leagues, which shows they are happy to cater to Indian players. It is estimated that 80% of the Indian sports betting market is cricket-based, and Bet365 offers the best variety of cricket betting lines available online.
Sports Betting in Indian Cities
I’ve added dedicated pages outlining the sports betting options for residents of various large cities in India.
In the following pages I look at the horse race betting locations in each city and provide specific betting information to cater to residents in each specific location.